Dragon 2 – Page 2 – Spaceflight Now

Dragon solar array concerns driving duration of first crewed test flight

May 12, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley will be geared up for the long haul when they launch from the Kennedy Space Center on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft later this month, but they won’t know exactly how long they will be in orbit until they are already aboard the International Space Station.

NASA, JAXA assign two more astronauts to second piloted Crew Dragon flight

March 31, 2020 Stephen Clark

Veteran astronauts Soichi Noguchi and Shannon Walker have been assigned to fly to the International Space Station on SpaceX’s second piloted Crew Dragon mission later this year, joining commander Mike Hopkins and astronaut Victor Glover on a planned six-month expedition in orbit.

Hardware arrives in Florida for Crew Dragon in-flight abort test

October 3, 2019 Stephen Clark

Images taken inside SpaceX facilities at Cape Canaveral and released by NASA Thursday show the Crew Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 booster assigned to an in-flight abort test of the new human-rated spaceship later this year, a prerequisite before astronauts climb aboard for a mission to the International Space Station.

SpaceX to begin flights under new cargo resupply contract next year

August 2, 2019 Stephen Clark

SpaceX is set to retire its current fleet of Dragon capsules, in use since 2010, next year and begin flying supplies to the International Space Station on a new variant of the Dragon spacecraft based on the model in development to carry astronauts.

Anticipating upgraded spaceships, SpaceX builds final first-generation Dragon cargo craft

July 29, 2017 Stephen Clark

The Dragon supply ship set for liftoff from Florida next month was the last of SpaceX’s first-generation cargo capsules off the production line, meaning future logistics deliveries to the International Space Station will fly on recycled spacecraft until a new Dragon variant is ready.

SpaceX announces plan to send mission to Mars in 2018

April 27, 2016 Stephen Clark

Elon Musk’s space transport company — chartered with a long-term goal of colonizing Mars — plans to send the first commercial mission to the red planet as soon as 2018, SpaceX announced Wednesday.

Dragon crew capsule’s propulsive landing system tested

January 21, 2016 Stephen Clark

SpaceX released a video Thursday showing a propulsive hover test of a prototype of the company’s Dragon crew capsule conducted two months ago, a milestone in the development of the spaceship’s rocket packs that will eventually guide the craft to helicopter-like landings.